Mark Curnutte

Through eight weeks, there have been 130 passing plays of 40 yards or more and 265 plays of 30 yards - compared to 105 and 221 through eight weeks last season.

The Bengals, despite their overall offensive struggles, have contributed. They have five pass plays of 30 or more yards: 62 yards from Carson Palmer to T.J. Houshmandzadeh at Tennessee; 53 from Palmer to Chad Johnson at the Jets; two 50-yard completions from Palmer to Johnson against the Broncos; and a 30-yarder from Palmer to Peter Warrick at the Jets.

LONG CLIMB: The Dolphins fell to 1-7 and lost linebacker Junior Seau on Monday night. No team in NFL history has started 1-7 and made the playoffs. Only one team, the 1970 Bengals, started a season 2-6 and made the playoffs.

The 2004 Bengals can tempt fate by losing today and falling to 2-6.

And since 1990, when the NFL expanded its playoff format to 12 teams, only three teams have rebounded from 2-5 starts to make the playoffs: the 1990 Saints, '95 Lions and 2002 Jets.

FAST 50: Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb needed 71 games to reach 50 victories, the fourth fastest since the 1970merger.

Oakland's Ken Stabler needed just 62 games to reach 50. Dallas' Danny White reached 50 in 69 starts, and Chicago's Jim Mc-Mahon made it in 70 games.

BY GEORGE: Believe it or not, the Bears are keeping in touch with veteran quarterback Jeff George, who has been out of the NFL since 2002 in Seattle.

"You see guys playing until they're 40 years old these days," said George, 36, who insists he could be a positive influence on Rex Grossman, Craig Krenzel and Chad Hutchinson. George and Bears quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson are friends from Wilson's days as a backup to George in Oakland.

NICE OFFENSE: Despite the reputation and past success of offensive guru Joe Gibbs and his assistant coaches from four Redskins Super Bowl teams, Washington is the only NFL team not to score 20 points in a game.

The lineup features four Pro Bowl players - quarterback Mark Brunell, offensive lineman Chris Samuels, wide receiver Laveranues Coles and running back Clinton Portis. Only Miami is scoring fewer than Washington's 14 points a game, and even the Dolphins tallied 31 once.

RICE HOMECOMING: If his sprained ankle recovers, Seattle wide receiver Jerry Rice will play a regular-season game in San Francisco for the first time since leaving the 49ers in 2001.

"I don't know if I'm going to get cheered or if I'm going to get booed, but I feel like I played a lot of great years there," said Rice, who has two catches for 16 yards in two games with Seattle.

RAVENS: At 4-3, the Ravens are two games behind the Steelers and looking at a tough second-half schedule. Baltimore's remaining four road games are against the Jets, Patriots, Colts and Steelers, who have a combined record of 22-6. The Ravens haven't won on the road against a team with a winning record in their last eight games (2001).

BROWNS: With preseason playoff hopes taking wing after defeating Baltimore 20-3 in Game 1, the Browns find themselves 3-4 with a tough month ahead. They play the rematch in Baltimore tonight and come home for games against the Steelers and Jets, both of which enter play today at 6-1.

"I think our season's coming down to these next three games," safety Robert Griffith said.

STEELERS: Having dispatched of the previously undefeated Patriots, the Steelers entertain 7-0 Philadelphia today at Heinz Field. No team has defeated two unbeaten teams at least six games into the season on consecutive weeks.

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Written, in part, from notes provided by other NFL beat writers.

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